Virgil van Dijk announced as ambassador and shareholder of the European Esports Organisation, Tundra
Tundra Esports, a London-based esports organisation with an international roster of the world’s best Dota 2, Fortnite and FIFA talent is pleased to announce Virgil van Dijk as its new Ambassador and Shareholder. One of the best football players in the world, Virgil will be helping to elevate and grow the overall Tundra brand whilst providing support and mentorship to the organisation's professional esports players.
With the global esports market size expected to reach over US$12 billion by 2030 and with over 475 million active watchers worldwide, the announcement follows a string of celebrity-status footballers entering the esports scene including the likes of David Beckham, Sergio Aguero and Jesse Lingard. In a league of his own on the field, Virgil will be diversifying his portfolio as Ambassador and Shareholder of Tundra Esports through supporting and developing the organisation’s overarching business goals including fostering the best esports talent worldwide and holding a strong focus on performance and sportsmanship.
A long-time avid gamer, Virgil will be integrating himself further into the gaming community through his new venture. Gaming is something that has always been a huge part of Virgil's life, from playing video games as a child to being an avid fan and player of the likes of FIFA, Fortnite and sim racing games, making him a natural fit to join the esports organisation.
Headquartered in the United Kingdom, Tundra Esports was formed in 2019. Boasting some of the top international gaming talent including Europe's number one ranked Dota 2 team as well as reigning Fortnite Champion Series Champions, the organisation has an overarching focus on player development and well-being, a shared vision with Virgil. Tundra’s success has also attracted major partners including social networking platform TikTok.
The announcement of Virgil as Tundra’s new Ambassador and Shareholder, was revealed in the competitive gaming anthem, OUTPLAYED which has been released today. The track is the first official grime gaming song, and was created by Tundra’s ambassador British Grime artist P Money. Created to celebrate gaming and for anyone who plays games or watches competitive gaming, OUTPLAYED is purposefully PG-rated for all gamers of any age. The track weaves in iconic gaming references throughout and has a frenetic energy mixed with electronic sounds to mirror the playful, fast-paced nature of competitive gaming. Following the increasing merge between gaming and music, OUTPLAYED was inspired by the rise in popularity of songs and anthems for esports teams.
P Money, who has been a lifelong gamer playing everything from FIFA and Call of Duty Warzone to Elden Ring, started contributing to music games through a modified Grand Theft Auto server called No Pixel where he made music for the server. OUTPLAYED came from Tundra’s Director of Marketing & Content Danny Lopez and P Money’s ambition to merge gaming and music even further. P Money commented: “Occasionally the path of music and gaming has crossed over, but I can see a world where the two go hand in hand across major esports events and artists expanding their discography to embrace game themed music in the future.”
Tundra Esports Ambassador and Shareholder, and professional footballer Virgil van Dijk commented: “I am extremely excited to be joining Tundra Esports. Tundra Esports is one of the fastest growing esports organisations in the world and they are moving in a very exciting direction. It was great to be able to collaborate with P Money and the idea behind OUTPLAYED further emphasised why I wanted to be involved to help grow the team. They have built up a tremendous reputation when it comes to player well-being within a winning culture which is something that really resonates with me. I’m excited for the future”.
Tundra Esports ambassador and grime artist P Money commented: “OUTPLAYED is a gaming anthem for everyone to enjoy. Grime and gaming pair perfectly - they have the same energy and hype, its two completely separate worlds merging. It’s been fantastic to be able to combine my two passions and to introduce my music fan base to what I’ve been doing in gaming. I want to show how both can go hand in hand and bring out others who’ve been interested but never quite had the confidence to do it.”
“This is a major moment for Tundra. Having someone like Virgil, who is highly revered both on and off the pitch, join our team is incredible. His insight will be invaluable for our players but also how we evolve as an organisation. We have so much we can learn from sports,” said Maxim Demin, Owner and Co-Founder of Tundra Esports. “Announcing his involvement through OUTPLAYED was a stroke of genius from P Money. It’s been great to have his support and creativity to do something different that not only helps us stand out but is also something for the community. Hopefully, the community finds it as catchy as we do!”
